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"The Robot Wars challengers march on into battle to join eleven machines already into the semi-finals. Lifting and rolling, pushing and shoving, dragging and flipping. We've had crashing. We've had bashing. We've had smashing. We've had spinning. In a blink of an eye, a robot can die, but hopes ever high, and more mayhem is nigh!"

— Jonathan Pearce's introduction

"OK, so Oliver Cromwell had his faults, like he banned Christmas, when everybody knows that’s when all the best films are on! But he was right about one thing; when he had to gather an army to fight the Roundheads, he didn’t choose trained fighters, he chose farmers. “Hey you, get off my land!” You see, Cromwell knew that there’s nothing more vicious than a man who feels threatened, except perhaps a woman on a bad hair day, but try finding ten thousand of those at short notice! And so, like Cromwell, Robot Wars has gathered together armies of normal folk to do battle for a place in our series semi-finals. And going on past experience, things should get pretty ugly all right!"

— Craig Charles' introduction

Heat L of Robot Wars: The Third Wars was the twelfth of sixteen heats which determined the Semi-Finalists of Robot Wars: The Third Wars. The episode featuring Heat L was originally broadcast on March 3, 2000 on BBC Two. The broadcast managed to attract 6.01 million viewers, an increase of 121,000 viewers when compared with the previous episode. According to BARB, this meant it ranked first in the top thirty highest rated BBC 2 broadcasts during 28 February-5 March, for the second consecutive time.

Wild Willy began by bumping into Flip Flop Fly and repeatedly firing the axe, but missing. Reversing away it attacked again, this time managing to hit the spikes sticking out of its opponent's wheel, after it recovered hitting the tyre and the body shell. It kept firing its axe as Flip Flop Fly backed away, missing with a swing. Then, Wild Willy accidentally ran into Sgt. Bash, attacking him with its axe and making multiple puncture marks. This earned it a lick of flame from Sgt. Bash's flamethrower, while Flip Flop Fly looked on. Flip Flop Fly was then edged across the arena by Wild Willy, taking another axe blow.

"It's a strange looking beast, isn't it - the fly."

— Jonathan Pearce

Wild Willy brought its axe down onto Flip Flop Fly again, before the latter moved towards Wild Willy, who then drove it into a side wall. After it recovered, Flip Flop Fly was again buffeted by Wild Willy, trying to roll it into the pit, but missing. Flip Flop Fly was axed again, then bounced by the arena spike. Willy was also bounced by it, but Flip Flop Fly's tyre had suffered damage, as it was slowly deflating. Again rammed and axed by Wild Willy, Flip Flop Fly was now moving very slowly and was extremely close to the pit.

"The fly, hardly buzzing."

— Jonathan Pearce

Wild Willy tried to nudge Flip Flop Fly in, but the latter had just enough power left to limp away from the edge of the pit. But then, after being bounced on the arena spike, Wild Willy then drove onto the edge of the pit, trying to escape by using the pickaxe. However it was pushed in by Matilda, and with Flip Flop Fly also immobilised at this point, the battle went to a judges' decision. Controversially, they ruled in favour of Flip Flop Fly.

Atlas sped out and rammed Challenger 2, then it reversed away and turned around to use its cutting disc.

"I love - I love the the little model on the top of Atlas"

— Jonathan Pearce

Challenger 2 pushes Atlas back

Challenger 2 pushed Atlas, then began dragging it, actually buckling the armour. Atlas was forced into a side wall, then escaped and retreated, but was soon caught by Challenger 2. Atlas moved away, taking a lick of flame from Sgt. Bash, then hit the a side wall. However here Atlas broke down and was attacked by the house robots, with Sir Killalot lifting it up towards the flame pit.

Shunt beheads the mascot of Atlas

"Let's turn the pages of the Atlas, shall we? Which country is that gonna come down in? If, on this earth, somewhere..."

— Jonathan Pearce as Atlas lifted by Sir Killalot

Atlas then had the toy mech on top hacked off by Shunt and melted on the flame pit, taking further axe blows to its underside.

"They can't quite believe it. Atlas lost its head and virtually everything else. Challenger 2 go through. Evil Weevil next up against Triterobot."

— Jonathan Pearce

Triterobot deploys its smokescreen

Triterobot sped out immediately and rammed Evil Weevil, the latter then making the wrong move of driving into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. On escaping, it was lifted by the spikes, allowing Triterobot to one of its own spikes underneath it, beaching it on a side wall. The weevil escaped again, ramming into Triterobot and pushing it into Sgt. Bash, but he couldn't get a grip on Triterobot because of its shape and pushed it out, so Triterobot sped away from danger. Evil Weevil rammed into it again and shoved it across the arena, eventually into Sir Killalot's CPZ. Backing up for another charge, Evil Weevil shot forwards again, but miscalculated its charge and became impaled on one of Triterobot's spikes. However, Evil Weevil's traction enabled it to drag Triterobot back and forth across the arena, causing Triterobot to deploy its smokescreen in response.

Triterobot side-stranded

"Smoke coming out, there, of Triterobot!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Triterobot eventually freed itself, retreating away. Evil Weevil bumped into the green machine, reversing away before cautiously nudging, when Triterobot drove up it side and became stuck. Triterobot's wheels were unable to reach the ground, rendering it immobile and was pushed almost into the pit by Evil Weevil, who left it there to be damaged by the house robots. Evil Weevil rammed Shunt, earning it a hit from his axe.

"I wouldn't take on the house robots just yet, because that's your punishment!"

Panzer was equipped with the spikes for this battle. It moved away from its starting zone, unlike Undertaker who seemed to be having drive problems. Panzer trundled over the front wedge of it, before drive onto it again and up the axe, almost flipping itself. Undertaker was then flipped by the Arena Spike, but toppled back onto it and was bounced repeatedly.

"Undertaker flicked up by the Arena Spike and bounced around like some grisly toy out there!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot then helped it off, but Panzer then manoeuvred around to Undertaker's side, forcing it all the way across the arena to the other side. Panzer reversed away, then drove up Undertaker's axe again, almost turning itself over. Panzer moved away, charged again and pierced Undertaker's side, then moved around to its back end and began pushing it again, this time towards the pit. Undertaker managed to manoeuvre itself to push Panzer away, but still couldn't gain proper control as the battle ended in a judges' decision, who gave it to Panzer.

Philippa Forrester: "You'll have to think of this as your practice run for a glittering Robot Wars career."

Philippa Forrester: "How does the Evil Weevil feel about the opposition?"

Kevin Pritchard: "It's, er, a bit of a strange contraption, we don't really know what to do with it. We're just gonna push it around a bit and see what happens."

— Kevin Pritchard on Flip Flop Fly

Evil Weevil gets under the fly

Flip Flop Fly's tyre is punctured as Matilda moves in

Evil Weevil spun around briefly at the start of the fight, before Flip Flop Fly moved towards it and hit Evil Weevil with its hammer, but caused no damage. Evil Weevil then got stuck on an Arena Spike, before reversing and ramming Flip Flop Fly. Evil Weevil then tried to push Flip Flop Fly into Shunt's CPZ, but failed to because of the awkward shape of its opponent, with Flip Flop Fly simply passing over the top of it. Evil Weevil drove into the CPZ and was hit by the axe of Shunt twice, then reversing and narrowly avoiding a third attack.

"And Evil Weevil, driven into the CPZ, and now taking punishment from Shunt!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Evil Weevil then raised its forks and was able to gain purchase on Flip Flop Fly, pushing it into Shunt who tried to attack it with his axe, but the axe hit Flip Flop Fly's hammer and failed to touch the main body. Shunt tried another axe blow, but it was again deflected by the hammer.

"And now, look at this - axe to axe, weapon to weapon."

— Jonathan Pearce as Shunt and Flip Flop Fly clash weapons

Evil Weevil and Flip Flop Fly then circled each other, before Evil Weevil got underneath its opponent and once again pushed it into Shunt. The House Robot then axed Flip Flop Fly's shell and caused a dent, before attacking one of the tyres but failed to puncture it. Flip Flop Fly's mobility had severely decreased, and Sir Killalot, Sgt. Bash and Matilda came in to attack it along with Shunt. Sir Killalot picked up Flip Flop Fly and dropped it in the centre of the Arena as cease was called.

"Well. Flip Flop Fly flops out of the competition. Evil Weevil goes through to the next round. Ay, let's hear it for Evil Weevil!"

The two machines charged at each other at the start of the battle, with Panzer intending to attack the rear of Challenger 2 due to its lack of weaponry in that area.

"Challenge 2's weaponry - vastly superior"

— Jonathan Pearce

Panzer then tried to push Challenger 2 who was taking mostly defensive actions, running away from its opponent. Panzer then drove up and over the sides of Challenger 2, unable to effectively push the other robot because of its low ground clearance. Panzer then managed to get around the back of Challenger 2 where it could push due to the flat surface, and managed to shove it into the pit.

"And that's where I thought Panzer would have a chance - shoving and pushing, and Challenger 2 is in the pit! And this is an upset."

— Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot and Shunt then came out of their CPZs to give the beaten Challenger 2 further punishment. Sir Killalot tried to drill into the rear of Challenger 2, while Shunt attacked Panzer with its axe, before axing Challenger 2 several times, creating multiple holes.

"Well. And as the House Robots have stopped misbehaving, I can tell you that the clear winner is Panzer. Panzer's through to the next round."

Evil Weevil drove around the Arena erratically, crashing into Matilda at one point, while Panzer sat motionless in its starting position, unable to move.

"Look at this; Panzer, has not got off and away. There's a problem right at the start of the Heat Final. Panzer seems to have been immobilised. What a shame this is."

— Jonathan Pearce

After waiting for its opponent to attack, Evil Weevil rammed Panzer, then getting its forks underneath the lifeless machine and lifting it.

"There's no life in Panzer at all. Richard at the controls can do nothing."

— Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot then came out of his CPZ and partly cut through one of its tracks. Evil Weevil pushed Panzer away from the House Robot and lifted it again, ramming it into the side wall angle grinders, before Sir Killalot picked up Panzer, paraded it around the Arena and then held the beaten machine while Sgt. Bash torched it with his flamethrower.

"Well, Killalot saves the day. The Panzers are out. The winner is Evil Weevil!"